Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works (Interactive Technologies) |  | Author: Janice (Ginny) Redish
Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
List Price: $49.95
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Seller: s_r_books
Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 11778
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 0123694868
Dewey Decimal Number: 006.7
EAN: 9780123694867
ASIN: 0123694868
Publication Date: June 29, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
"Redish has done her homework and created a thorough overview of the issues in writing for the Web. Ironically, I must recommend that you read her every word so that you can find out why your customers won't read very many words on your website -- and what to do about it."
-- Jakob Nielsen, Principal, Nielsen Norman Group
"There are at least twelve billion web pages out there. Twelve billion voices talking, but saying mostly nothing. If just 1% of those pages followed Ginny's practical, clear advice, the world would be a better place. Fortunately, you can follow her advice for 100% of your own site's pages, so pick up a copy of Letting Go of the Words and start communicating effectively today."
--Lou Rosenfeld, co-author, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
On the web, whether on the job or at home, we usually want to grab information and use it quickly. We go to the web to get answers to questions or to complete tasks - to gather information, reading only what we need. We are all too busy to read much on the web.
This book helps you write successfully for web users. It offers strategy, process, and tactics for creating or revising content for the web. It helps you plan, organize, write, design, and test web content that will make web users come back again and again to your site.
Learn how to create usable and useful content for the web from the master − Ginny Redish. Ginny has taught and mentored hundreds of writers, information designers, and content owners in the principles and secrets of creating web information that is easy to scan, easy to read, and easy to use.
This practical, informative book will help anyone creating web content do it better.
Features
* Clearly-explained guidelines with full color illustrations and examples from actual web sites throughout the book.
* Written in easy-to-read style with many "befores" and "afters."
* Specific guidelines for web-based press releases, legal notices, and other documents.
* Tips on making web content accessible for people with special needs.
Janice (Ginny) Redish has been helping clients and colleagues communicate clearly for more than 20 years. For the past ten years, her focus has been helping people create usable and useful web sites. She is co-author of two classic books on usability: A Practical Guide to Usability Testing (with Joseph Dumas), and User and Task Analysis for Interface Design (with JoAnn Hackos), and is the recipient of many awards.
* Clearly-explained guidelines with full color illustrations and examples from actual
web sites throughout the book.
* Written in easy-to-read style with many "befores" and "afters."
* Specific guidelines for web-based press releases, legal notices, and other documents.
* Tips on making web content accessible for people with special needs.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 44
 MandyP November 12, 2009
Amanda I. Parsons
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Letting Go of the Words (Writing Web Content that Works) has a very interesting and easy way of letting consumers know how to write content on the internet that won't bore their audience. Janice (Ginny) Redish does a great job explaining how to keep your audience interested by using terms the general public can relate to. Throughout the book, the author tries to relay the overall message that people don't want to read along the way! Instead, they skim until they find a topic that relates to what they are looking for and then scans that piece of information. This skim and scan method is explained in more detail within the book and is just one of the techniques she uses to explain her finding. With each method that she talks of, the messages are all the same. Trying to keep information short, cut down and as few words as possible is exactly what she is trying to convey. This 350 page book reveals Redish's recommendations that can be used to slice your content in half so your main message shines clear.
Chapters
1. Content! Content! Content!
2. People! People! People!
3. Starting Well: Home Pages
4. Getting There: Pathway Pages
5. Writing Information, Not Documents
6. Focusing on Your Essential Messages
7. Designing Your Web Pages for Easy Use
8. Tuning Up Your Sentences
9. Using Lists and Tables
10. Breaking Up You Text with Headings
11. Using Illustrations Effectively
12. Writing Meaningful Links
13. Getting From Draft to Final Web Pages
My overall thoughts of this book were that I believe the author did a fantastic job at getting to the underlying message that many web content writers miss out on. There are too many times you go to a web site and are bogged down with information but instead of reading it, you leave. I find myself in that exact situation constantly, even while in the process of reading this book it happened. People including myself, don't have time to sit at their computers and read through all that information just to find one simple question they were looking for. People want information that is fast and easy to find, and this book shows you how to do just that.
Fantastic Book! November 11, 2009
D. Boehm
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is great for any organization looking to improve their website. There are great ideas for making the site better and easier to navigate. Most of the ideas are the ones that you can easily over look but can greatly affect the users experience on your site.
The real world examples and changes that Ginny would make to improve the sites are especially helpful. Ginny points out the mistakes that most sites make as well as providing the fixes for these mistakes. The guidelines that she offers are helpful to those that might struggle with doing things grammtically correct or doing things for the web.
Finally I had another question that was not answered in the book and I sent Ginny an email and she replied with a complete and thoughtful answer - a rarity from most authors!
dboehm
Required Reading for Web Professionals and Students November 4, 2009
D. Jason (Minnesota)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book was required reading in a master's level "Writing for the Web" course I completed this year. In addition to being a student in writing and Web site usability, I am a Director of Online Marketing for a national, commercial Web site.
Redish's book was immensely useful to me, both as a student and in my professional position. It's an easy, enjoyable read that is absolutely packed full of advice that you can put to use - on your Web site - and benefit from immediately. I made several changes to our Web site, using the book as a guide, and started seeing results in just days. Those results included less telephone calls from customers for help, more views of important Web pages, and increased sales from our site. I can't recommend this book highly enough! It's a must-read if you're studying or working on the Web.
Embrace The Future October 1, 2009
Paul Kocak (Syracuse)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ginny Redish's "Letting Go of the Words" deserves to be on the shelf of anyone who writes web content. No, not on the shelf. Keep this book on your desk for immediate handy reference. It is thorough, practical, and cogent. As a veteran writer and editor, Redish has solid credentials that she applies to the new world of "grab and go" Internet communication. This book underscores how we all think in new ways because of the Internet -- without even realizing it. And it offers valuable lessons for creating clear messages, both online and offline.
Great Guidelines for Great Web Writing September 14, 2009
Susan H. Beerman (Newcastle, WA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a very well thought out book that provides the "rules" for Web writing along with the reasons why the rules work to produce compelling Web content. Letting Go of the Words includes relevant case studies, great graphic layout, well-organized content, and easy-to-understand and easy-to-apply "rules" for creating good content. If you are responsible for any Web site's words you couldn't do better than to read and use Ginny Redish's guidance.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 44
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